Interfacial self-assembly of endothelial cells toward angiogenic network formation in the composite hydrogel culture systems

2016 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 61-73 ◽  
Author(s):  
Afra Hadjizadeh ◽  
Davod Mohebbi-Kalhori

Fabrication of a pre-vascularized tissue in vitro is an extensive research activity. The idea behind this approach is that a network of newly formed micro-vessels may be engineered in vitro by the seeding of a scaffold with endothelial cells. To this aim, understanding the effect of physicochemical properties of the scaffolding material and the method of cell seeding, in regulating endothelial cells’ behavior in the in vitro constructs, is an emerging requirement. In this study, the effect of interfacial self-assembly and contact guidance for the endothelial cell behavior and angiogenic network formation have been studied. This has been done by the fabrication of in vitro three-dimensional tissue constructs, using multilayer surface-modified polymer fibers, and two different methods of cell seeding by human umbilical vein endothelial cells. In the first method, human umbilical vein endothelial cells, fibers, and fibrin gel matrix were combined simultaneously. In the second method, the human umbilical vein endothelial cells and fibers, having various surface coatings, were sandwiched between two layers of fibrin gel matrix with or without fibroblast cell monolayer over the fibrin gel. In the optimal conditions, the effect of fibers in conjunction with the interfacial self-assembly enhanced a tube-like and interconnected network structure formation. This design could therefore have a major impact in the generation of the pre-vascularized tissue-engineered constructs.

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Zaipul I. Md Dom ◽  
Caterina Pipino ◽  
Bozena Krolewski ◽  
Kristina O’Neil ◽  
Eiichiro Satake ◽  
...  

AbstractWe recently identified a kidney risk inflammatory signature (KRIS), comprising 6 TNF receptors (including TNFR1 and TNFR2) and 11 inflammatory proteins. Elevated levels of these proteins in circulation were strongly associated with risk of the development of end-stage kidney disease (ESKD) during 10-year follow-up. It has been hypothesized that elevated levels of these proteins in circulation might reflect (be markers of) systemic exposure to TNFα. In this in vitro study, we examined intracellular and extracellular levels of these proteins in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) exposed to TNFα in the presence of hyperglycemia. KRIS proteins as well as 1300 other proteins were measured using the SOMAscan proteomics platform. Four KRIS proteins (including TNFR1) were down-regulated and only 1 protein (IL18R1) was up-regulated in the extracellular fraction of TNFα-stimulated HUVECs. In the intracellular fraction, one KRIS protein was down-regulated (CCL14) and 1 protein was up-regulated (IL18R1). The levels of other KRIS proteins were not affected by exposure to TNFα. HUVECs exposed to a hyperglycemic and inflammatory environment also showed significant up-regulation of a distinct set of 53 proteins (mainly in extracellular fraction). In our previous study, circulating levels of these proteins were not associated with progression to ESKD in diabetes.


Immunobiology ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 211 (5) ◽  
pp. 351-357 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jong-Seo Yoon ◽  
Hyun-Hee Kim ◽  
Ji-Whan Han ◽  
Yoon Lee ◽  
Joon-Sung Lee

2017 ◽  
Vol 33 (9) ◽  
pp. 592-599 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francesca Felice ◽  
Ester Belardinelli ◽  
Alessandro Frullini ◽  
Tatiana Santoni ◽  
Egidio Imbalzano ◽  
...  

Objectives Aminaphtone, a naphtohydrochinone used in the treatment of capillary disorders, may affect oedema in chronic venous insufficiency. Aim of study is to investigate the effect of aminaphtone on vascular endothelial permeability in vitro and its effects on three-dimensional capillary-like structures formed by human umbilical vein endothelial cells. Method Human umbilical vein endothelial cells were treated with 50 ng/ml VEGF for 2 h and aminaphtone for 6 h. Permeability assay, VE-cadherin expression and Matrigel assay were performed. Results VEGF-induced permeability was significantly decreased by aminaphtone in a range concentration of 1–20 µg/ml. Aminaphtone restored VE-cadherin expression. Finally, 6 h pre-treatment with aminaphtone significantly preserved capillary-like structures formed by human umbilical vein endothelial cells on Matrigel up to 48 h compared to untreated cells. Conclusions Aminaphtone significantly protects endothelium permeability and stabilises endothelial cells organised in capillary-like structures, modulating VE-cadherin expression. These data might explain the clinical benefit of aminaphtone on chronic venous insufficiency.


2002 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 369-377 ◽  
Author(s):  
Makarand V. Risbud ◽  
Erdal Karamuk ◽  
René Moser ◽  
Joerg Mayer

Three-dimensional (3-D) scaffolds offer an exciting possibility to develop cocultures of various cell types. Here we report chitosan–collagen hydrogel-coated fabric scaffolds with defined mesh size and fiber diameter for 3-D culture of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs). These scaffolds did not require pre-coating with fibronectin and they supported proper HUVEC attachment and growth. Scaffolds preserved endothelial cell-specific cobblestone morphology and cells were growing in compartments defined by the textile mesh. HUVECs on the scaffold maintained the property of contact inhibition and did not exhibit overgrowth until the end of in vitro culture (day 6). MTT assay showed that cells had preserved mitochondrial functionality. It was also noted that cell number on the chitosan-coated scaffold was lower than that of collagen-coated scaffolds. Calcein AM and ethidium homodimer (EtD-1) dual staining demonstrated presence of viable and metabolically active cells, indicating growth supportive properties of the scaffolds. Actin labeling revealed absence of actin stress fibers and uniform distribution of F-actin in the cells, indicating their proper attachment to the scaffold matrix. Confocal microscopic studies showed that HUVECs growing on the scaffold had preserved functionality as seen by expression of von Willebrand (vW) factor. Observations also revealed that functional HUVECs were growing at various depths in the hydrogel matrix, thus demonstrating the potential of these scaffolds to support 3-D growth of cells. We foresee the application of this scaffold system in the design of liver bioreactors wherein hepatocytes could be cocultured in parallel with endothelial cells to enhance and preserve liver-specific functions.


2015 ◽  
Vol 117 (suppl_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Qi Sun ◽  
Dongcao Lv ◽  
Qiulian Zhou ◽  
Yihua Bei ◽  
Junjie Xiao

MicroRNAs (miRNAs, miRs), endogenous small non-coding RNA, have been shown to act as essential regulators in angiogenesis which plays important roles in improving blood flow and cardiac function following myocardial infarction. The current study investigated the potential of miR-4260 in endothelial cell function and angiogenesis using human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC). Our data demonstrated that overexpression of miR-4260 was associated with increased proliferation and migration of HUVEC using EdU incorporation assay (17.25%±1.31 vs 25.78%±1.24 in nc-mimics vs miR-4260 mimics, respectively) and wound healing assay, respectively. While downregulation of miR-4260 inhibited the proliferation (17.90%±1.37 vs 10.66%±1.41 in nc-inhibitor vs miR-4260 inhibitor, respectively) and migration of HUVEC. Furthermore, we found that miR-4260 mimics increased (129.75±3.68 vs 147±3.13 in nc-mimics vs miR-4260 mimics, respectively), while miR-4260 inhibitor decreased the tube formation of HUVECs in vitro (123.25±2.17 vs 92±4.45 in nc-inhibitor vs miR-4260 inhibitor expression, respectively). Our data indicate that miR-4260 contributes to the proliferation, migration and tube formation of endothelial cells, and might be essential regulators for angiogenesis. Further study is needed to investigate the underlying mechanism that mediates the role of miR-4260 in angiogenesis by identifying its putative downstream target genes.


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